New masks help animals breathe

It used to be that when Newport Beach firefighters rescued pets from a burning home they had to give the little critters oxygen from their own mask.

But now firefighters have specially made masks for the family pet.

Animal Control Officer Victoria Schomburg got the idea when she learned about the mask months ago at an animal rescue conference.

“I Googled it and saw that a lot of cities back East already have them,” Schomburg said.

So Schomburg presented her findings to the city and with money from the Pick-A-Pet stray animal fund she purchased six sets for use by both the fire and animal control departments.

One set is stored on each of the department’s two ladder trucks and a third will stay with the on-duty battalion chief, department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz said. Another three masks are kept in the animal control vehicles.

The re-breather masks cost $60 per set from Help Animals Inc., a nonprofit Florida-based organization.

The masks come with three sizes and fit most household pets from small cats to large dogs.

Masks used in human rescue pump out a 21% oxygen mix.

The masks used in animal rescue put out three times that concentration of oxygen as the masks do not completely secure around a dog or cat snout, Schomburg said.

The great things is the masks hook up to the oxygen tanks already used by the fire department, Schulz said.

“All you do is shove the mask over their nose,” Schomburg said. “The best we could do before was blow it past their nose with the regular masks.”

“If we can save an animal that’s great,” Schomburg said. “It’s better to have them and never need them than to not have them and be in need.”

The masks are only used during normal emergency calls, when animals are trapped in a structure, fire authorities said.

During daytime hours all animal-related calls should be made to the police department’s animal control division at (949) 644-3717.